artist profile
Lena Liv
born
1952
lives and works
Tuscany, Italy
education
School of Fine Arts, Leningrad, Russia, 1968–70
Higher Institute of Arts and Design, Leningrad, Russia, 1971–76
about the artist
Light plays out in myriad poetic ways amid the shadowy reverie of Lena Liv’s photography. The portrayed subjects emerge luminous and ethereal, as if they were imaginary recollections of the imaginary past. The photographs accrue material dimensions, as the artist transposes them onto glass, renovates them into installations, or complements them with found objects. Liv diverts our senses, so bombarded, inundated, and overwhelmed by the surfeit rations of media debris, onto the quiet experience of human existence. The artist lives and works in Tuscany, Italy—her practice engages a variety of media and has filled solo exhibitions in Germany, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Israel, and the United States, at institutions such as the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Centro Pecci in Prato. She has participated in group exhibitions held at the Villa Croce, Museum of Contemporary Art in Genoa, Italy; the MUAR in Moscow, Russia; the Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna, Australia; and the Kunsthalle Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland. Liv was also included in the Roundabout touring exhibition at the City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel.